Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOY, v.t.

To treat as a boy. – Johnson. Rather, to act as a boy; to imitate a boy in action. The passage in Shakspeare, in which this word is found, is supposed to allude to the practice of boys acting women's parts, on the stage. I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. – See Mason's Sup. to Johnson.